Atlanta Falcons: Week 2 Position-by-Position Preview

The Atlanta Falcons easily disposed of the Chiefs 40-24 in Week 1. But their first real test comes this Monday night against the Broncos.

The Falcons' air-show was put on display in Kansas City, as the offense scored on its first eight possessions. The defense had its fair share of struggles though, giving up 17 points through the first two quarters before finally stepping up in the second half.

Mike Nolan can't let that happen with Peyton Manning coming to town this week. While the offense, despite all their success last Sunday, have a few improvements of their own to make.

Here's a position-by-position breakdown of what the Falcons need to do to leave the Georgia Dome with their first home win of the season. 

Quarterback

Matt Ryan took advantage of a banged-up Chiefs secondary last week, completing 23 of his 31 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns, while adding another on the ground.

Chances are he'll have a much tougher time reaching that stat-line this Monday.

Denver allowed just 19 points last week against Ben Roethlisberger, keeping him to a 55 completion percentage and forcing an interception—despite his knack for keeping plays alive.

Ryan isn't nearly as elusive as Big Ben, and will have to throw a lot of quick passes to avoid taking big hits.

Equally important will be the accuracy of those passes. Champ Bailey and Tracy Porter are much better cornerbacks than Jalil Brown and Stanford Routt, whom the Chiefs fielded Sunday after losing Brandon Carr to free agency and Brandon Flowers to injury. 

Perhaps most important for Ryan, however, will be protecting the ball. Peyton Manning is the last person he wants to give a chance to capitalize on his turnovers.

Running Backs

The Falcons' running game struggled in Week 1, but it's not like it was really needed with Matt Ryan dominating through the air.

It could be a crucial key to Atlanta's success against the Broncos, however.

As mentioned in the previous slide, Peyton Manning makes the most of the drives he gets. That's why it's imperative the Falcons keep him off the field as much as possible.

And the best way to do that is with a strong running game.

Pounding the rock up the middle with Michael Turner should not only wear down Denver's front seven, but also make it easier for play-action. This is all while allowing the Falcons to run down the clock and reduce the Broncos' opportunities to score.

Atlanta abandoned the run early against the Chiefs, after enjoying so much success passing. But this week may instead come down to whether Turner can bounce back from a lackluster 2012 performance that has seen him total 49 yards on 18 preseason carries and reach just 32 yards on 11 touches last Sunday. 

Receivers

Matt Ryan didn't play favorites in the season opener, throwing six passes each to wideouts Julio Jones and Roddy White, five to tight end Tony Gonzalez and another three to slot receiver Harry Douglas. Jacquizz Rodgers and Michael Palmer had the last three.

As impressive as it is to see Ryan spread the ball so effectively, what stands out most is the receiving group's dominance in one category: yards after the catch.

Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter got the ball quickly into his receivers' hands last Sunday and let them make the plays instead of Ryan forcing them.

Few could have predicted how effective that would prove to be—Atlanta tallied 146 YAC (6.3 average) in Week 1, good for sixth-best in the league.

A bulk of that came from screen passes. According to ESPN's Pat Yasinkas, Ryan completed three for 36 yards against the Chiefs, including a 14-yard screen pass to Julio Jones that was executed to near-perfection.

The Falcons will need to see that success continue against Denver, for more reasons than one.

Offensive Line

The first reason for the Falcons to throw the screen is obvious: it gets the ball into their play-makers' hands.

But more significantly, it should help counter a lethal Denver pass rush that sacked Ben Roethlisberger five times and pressured him constantly last Monday. 

Defensive stars Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil will be relentless forces for the Broncos and are sure to wreak much more havoc than what the Falcons received from a Tamba Hali-less Kansas City team.

That puts a lot of pressure on a Falcons offensive line that was shaky at best in 2011.

The screen pass will help slow down the pass rush, but it won't stop it entirely; solid protection will be crucial for this game.

Atlanta was fortunate to see Sam Baker and the rest of the line give Ryan time in the pocket and allow just one sack against the Chiefs Sunday.

But as good as they were, Atlanta's starting five will have to be even better if they want to keep that number from soaring on Monday night.

Defensive Line

Consistency is the big question facing the Falcons' defensive line.

The group experienced up-and-down success in preseason, something that continued through last week's game.

Atlanta's front four didn't bother Matt Cassel much through two quarters of the season opener, who wasn't so much as touched by a defensive lineman as he led the Chiefs to scores on all of their first-half drives.

But it was a completely different story in the second half, which saw Cassel sacked once each by John Abraham and Jonathan Babineaux and throw two interceptions, thanks in part to a collapsing pocket. 

Atlanta will need to see that type of pressure come early and often against the Broncos if they want to keep Peyton Manning from sitting back and carving up the secondary.

Namely, Ray Edwards and Peria Jerry have to step up and make their presence felt, or else it won't be long before fans start referring to them as busts once again.

Linebackers

Linebackers Sean Weatherspoon and Stephen Nicholas were key contributors in the Falcons' win last Sunday, recording a combined 19 tackles.

But much of their work came defending Kansas City's two-headed running attack of Jammal Charles and Peyton Hills.

Against the Broncos, their focus is likely to shift to the quarterback. Peyton Manning is the biggest name on Denver's offense, and stopping him should be the top priority for Atlanta's linebackers.

The one to watch will be Weatherspoon, who sacked Matt Cassel on a disguised blitz early in last week's game.

Mike Nolan is sure to send the third-year pro on more blitzes Monday. How often he is able to bring Manning down could have a big effect on the final score.

Secondary

The secondary knows what's coming: Peyton Manning will march into the Georgia Dome and try to pass his way to victory. It's what he's done his entire career, and something he happens to do pretty darn well.

That doesn't bode well for the Falcons who, despite all their talk of an improved secondary, allowed Matt Cassel to throw for 258 yards in the season opener.

Dunta Robinson was the main culprit after giving up numerous catches to Dexter McCluster in the slot, but that doesn't keep Brent Grimes and newcomer Asante Samuel from shouldering part of the blame.

Keeping the bleeding to a minimum will be key for the Falcons this week, something that has just become much more difficult now with the Pro Bowler Grimes lost to injury for the rest of the season. 

As much as Atlanta's back-end would love nothing more than pick Manning off in prime time, tight coverage and solid tackling should be their top priorities.

Special Teams

Special teams was the unsung hero for the Falcons last Sunday, with Matt Bryant converting all of his field goal attempts, Matt Bosher kicking touchbacks all game long and Jacquizz Rodgers returning a kickoff 77 yards.

The Falcons won't need much more than that against the Broncos. As long as Bryant stays automatic, Bosher pins the Broncos and punts 50-yarders and Rodgers continues to make plays returning the ball, there's no reason to worry about this unit for Monday night's game.